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Looking at the coffee trends in recent years, after the appearance of instant coffee, espresso rose in its wake, not only spreading Italy's coffee spirit throughout Europe, but also riding the prosperity of coffee chains to spread across the world, becoming an important foundation for subsequent coffee development! Today, including Front Street, cafes large and small all offer a variety of espresso drinks. Today we'll introduce this branch system and analyze its differences from pour-over coffee.

Espresso
A pure, relatively intenseespresso(espresso) was the main player of the second wave of coffee. Legend has it that coffee was introduced to Italy from the East along with fruit and became beloved by Italians. After major improvements in brewing equipment in the early 20th century, it laid the foundation for what closely resembles modern espresso, and drinking espresso became an everyday routine for Italians. Later, as espresso machines continued to improve, espresso spread outward from Italy, surrounding all of Europe with coffee aroma, and ultimately spreading widely around the world.

According to Front Street's research, the “es” in espresso is actually the English “ex,” meaning “fast and convenient.” In the past, traditional espresso drinking involved quickly finishing the coffee in just a few minutes to ensure the coffee's flavor would not be lost. At the time, this even sparked a trend of standing while drinking coffee, and the price was also more affordable than takeaway coffee.

Authentic espresso is a beverage made by passing nearly boiling high-pressure hot water (about 92-94°C, 9 bar atmospheric pressure) through a finely ground, evenly tamped coffee puck in a 20-30 second extraction time, producing about 30-60 ml of drink. Its surface carries a thick, dense layer of coffee oil foam, also called Crema. The color of the crema tends toward golden yellow to brown, and nowadays it can vary in shade depending on the coffee's roast level.

Because the flavor is very intense, many people also add granulated sugar or milk to balance the bitterness. In 1971, the well-known coffee chain brand “Starbucks” was founded, further driving new espresso-based variations blended with milk, syrup, cream, spices, and various other flavorings, such as Con Panna, Macchiato, Caramel Macchiato, Cappuccino, Latte, Mocha, Americano... and so on. They are all representative members of the extended espresso family!
 

Americano
In fact,Americano was not born inthe United States. Americano was initially transformed from espresso—espresso diluted with hot water becomes Americano under the espresso system. During World War II, American soldiers in Europe were not used toespressothe stimulating, purely bitter taste, so they added hot water to dilute the coffee, and the name Americano was born from this! In the world of espresso, Americano is simply one of the variations of espresso!

Strictly speaking, Americano can be further divided into Americano, Long Black, and Lungo/Long Shot, but because the former is so famous, few people notice the other two branches:

Americano│espresso with hot water added, larger cup volume, so the crema on the espresso is easily diluted, giving a softer mouthfeel. Long Black│Smaller cup volume,hot water added to espresso. Because the crema is poured last, the crema can be retained longer, and it can better maintain the coffee's lingering aroma in the mouth.

Lungo│No additional water, but a longer extraction time and faster water flow. Extraction time is about 30-60 seconds, yielding about 60 ml of coffee. It is a coffee more aromatic than Americano but with lower concentration.

Pour-over Coffee
With the arrival of the third wave of coffee, coffee has transformed from a necessity into a luxury. Coffee lovers value the coffee's origin, year, processing, bean characteristics, variety, mouthfeel... and pay even more attention to various brewing parameters, which has also madespecialty coffeeshops around the world flourish even more.

So-calledpour-over coffeeis made by the barista controlling various parameters such as water temperature, water flow, water volume, and coffee grind size, and brewing the coffee grounds with a steady pouring method to complete the extraction. The extraction principle of pour-over coffee is formed through three physical mechanisms between water and coffee grounds: “wetting and blooming, dissolution, diffusion and ratio adjustment”:

Wetting and blooming│In the first pour, generally only a small amount of water is added to slightly moisten the coffee grounds, so that easily dissipated aromatic substances and the like can be retained in this small amount of water.

Dissolution│After blooming, pouring water dissolves hundreds of soluble molecules in the coffee that affect flavor, including caffeine, acidity (sourness), aroma, oils, sugars (sweetness), carbohydrates (bitterness)... and so on.

Diffusion and ratio adjustment│The dissolved molecules diffuse into the water, and through subsequent pouring, appropriate extraction adjustment is made, becoming our fragrant, rich, and full-bodied coffee beverage.

A change in any one factor will affect the flavor of the entire cup of coffee, so pour-over coffee is a coffee brewing method that places great emphasis on technique.

The reason everyone praises pour-over coffee so highly is that, besides freshly ground and freshly brewed coffee being the most fragrant and fresh, more importantly, a skilled barista can perfectly interpret the strengths of the coffee beans, delicately adjusting and expressing the substances in the coffee grounds through technique, drawing out the distinctive flavors in the coffee, rather than emphasizing a concentrated and intense extraction method. From the front note, middle note, and finish, one can experience flavor changes at different levels, allowing the coffee drinker to become fully immersed in the elegant world of black coffee.

Because of this, drinking coffee is no longer just about a fast and simple rule for consumption, but rather a process from preparation to drinking, forming an interesting lifestyle mood. Below, we'll take Front Street Golden Mandheling coffee beans as an example to show everyone how to brew a rich, sweet-finish black coffee.

“Golden Mandheling” is the exclusive brand of Indonesia's Pwani Coffee Company (PWN). There are many different types of Mandheling products on the market. Because PWN registered the English name “Golden Mandheling” as its trademark, only Golden Mandheling produced by PWN is truly Golden Mandheling in the true sense.

Medium-dark roasted Mandheling coffee gives off a rich “coffee flavor,” similar to a complex aroma of nuts, dark chocolate, roasted chestnuts, cinnamon, and other spices. It drinks smooth and full-bodied like caramel and cream, completely filling the mouth, with a solid mouthfeel and a sweet finish. It is one of the top single-origin choices for friends who love strong, bitter black coffee.

Front Street's brewing approach for each coffee bean is based on the characteristics the coffee shows during cupping. For Golden Mandheling, as a coffee highlighting a full-bodied profile, Front Street will prioritize using a Kono or cake filter cup. Compared with conical drippers, the cake filter cup has a “large flat bed,” allowing the coffee grounds to spread evenly at the bottom, which increases the water absorption time of the coffee particles, resulting in a more uniform overall extraction and enhancing the full-bodied mouthfeel. It is also friendlier to beginners who are not yet very familiar with flow control.

Because deeply roasted coffee beans are relatively loose and highly absorbent, they can easily absorb too much water and become over-extracted, making the brewed Mandheling coffee bitter and astringent. Therefore, Front Street will adjust the grind coarser and brew with slightly lower-temperature water.

Suggested brewing parameters: Water temperature: 87-88°C  Coffee grounds: 15 g  Coffee-to-water ratio 1:15    Grind size: medium grind (70% passing through China standard No. 20 sieve)

For the brewing method, use a three-stage pouring method. Dividing into three pours can better express the full-bodied mouthfeel and caramel sweetness of Front Street Golden Mandheling coffee. In the first stage, pour 30 ml for blooming. This pour completely wets the coffee grounds and allows degassing, in order to better extract the coffee's flavor substances later. In the second stage, pour 100 ml. This stage mainly washes out Mandheling's golden foam and raises the coffee bed. In the final stage, gently pour 95 ml in the center. After all the coffee liquid has finished filtering, remove the dripper and gently swirl the coffee in the server to mix it evenly.

The pour-over Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling coffee drinks very intensely, giving off an aroma of spices and herbs, with an overall expression of solid full-bodied mouthfeel, caramel sweetness, and chocolate and nut flavors.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.